‘A NEW VIETNAM FOR U.S.’

Kremlin jab at Kyiv aid

Ukraine will be a “humiliating fiasco” for America as was Vietnam if Washington continues its involvement, a Russian official said Sunday.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova issued the scathing comment a day after US lawmakers in the House of Representatives green-lit a long-delayed $60 billion aid bill for Ukraine that will help the war-weary nation buy more advanced weapons and defense systems.

“Washington’s deeper and deeper immersion in the hybrid war against Russia will turn into a loud and humiliating fiasco for the United States, such as Vietnam and Afghanistan,” Zakharova said, adding that it’s become clear the US wants Ukraine “to fight to the last Ukrainian.”

She warned that Russia will issue “an unconditional and resolute response” to the United States’ efforts to get more involved in the war, which began when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of its western neighbor in February 2022.

Relations between Cold War enemies Russia and America have deteriorated as a result, reaching depths not seen since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, according to US and Russian diplomats.

Last week, CIA Director William Burns said Ukraine could hold the line if the US gives it more help, but without it, the grinding artillery-and-drone war could end in a Ukrainian defeat.

Although the US has refused to send American troops to the battle-scarred nation, its massive aid package could extend a lifeline just when Ukraine needs it most.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his thanks over the vote, saying US lawmakers had moved to keep “history on the right track.”

“The vital U.S. aid bill passed today by the House will keep the war from expanding, save thousands and thousands of lives, and help both of our nations to become stronger,” Zelensky said on X.

Asset seizure

The package will also let the US seize billions of dollars in frozen Russia assets, which Zakharova whined was “theft” before claiming the only real beneficiaries will be US defense contractors.

The specter of the Vietnam War, a conflict in which more than 58,000 Americans died, has loomed heavily over the United States’ foreign policy since the disastrous 1973 evacuation of Saigon.

Although Afghanistan did not exact the same toll on US forces — with about 2,500 dead and more than 20,000 wounded — the August 2021 withdrawal after nearly two decades of conflict similarly shocked the American public.

Russia now controls about a fifth of Ukraine, mostly in the nation’s eastern and southern regions.

Russian troops have been slowly gaining ground since Kyiv’s 2023 counteroffensive failed to dislodge many.